Shopping basket presentation method for an online shopping system

ABSTRACT

In an online shopping system having a shopping basket function capable of conducting an order process in onetime by storing items to be purchased in a purchase list, an interface for the shopping basket function is provided as a shopping basket window separate from a catalog window for displaying item data of the online shopping. The shopping basket window is placed near a pointer displayed on the catalog window and a display position thereof is moved in linkage with the movement of the pointer. The shopping basket function includes a list of items to be purchased which is a main body of the shopping basket, a function to add item data to the list, and a function to change the item information registered in the list. Preferably, the shopping basket main body is not constantly displayed. Instead, an interface function to recall the content display of the shopping basket is provided in the shopping basket window.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to an online shopping system for aconsumer to order and purchase items by using a computer, and moreparticularly to a method for providing an online shopping system havingan interface function for allowing an consumer to efficiently select andconfirm items to be purchased and such an interface function.

[0002] Recently, an online shopping system which allows examination,selection and order of items through a computer has been put intopractice. In such an online shopping system, in order to supplement adisadvantage by a gap from ordinary shopping caused by the use ofelectronic means such as not capable of directly touching the item andnot capable of getting assistance of a real salesman, various devicesfor a user interface have been made. As one of such devices, a so-calledshopping basket function which has some analogy with shopping basketused in a shop such as supermarket is proposed. In this function, itemson the online shopping are temporarily added to a purchase list and aprocess of order and purchase is conducted when all items to bepurchased are registered on the list, as items to be purchased in thesupermarket are once put into a shopping basket and lastly the accountis settled at a counter. In this manner, by preparing the purchase listto order a plurality of items one time, a time required to purchase maybe substantially saved. Further, the consumer may prevent the failure ofshopping and stop the purchase of unnecessary items by checking the listonce before the purchase. Further, because of feel of easiness that theitems once added on the purchase list may be finally changed in any waybefore the purchase, there is a psychological effect that the consumermay proceed shopping readily.

[0003] The elements which constitute the shopping basket are a shoppingbasket main body (purchase list) and a function for taking in and outitems for the shopping basket. As functions associated with the shoppingbasket, there are a function to take the items into the shopping basket(add to the purchase list), a function to check the contents of theshopping basket (display the purchase list), a function to return theitem in the shopping basket (change the purchase list) and a function topurchase the items in the shopping basket. However, for the function topurchase the items, only the order is accepted because the delivery ofthe items is made later except a portion of items which can bedownloaded as digital data and the shopping is not completed until theitems are received and the account is settled.

[0004] As one of methods for proving the shopping basket to theconsumer, there is a method of displaying a button for the shoppingbasket on the same display page as a catalog which the consumer watchesas it is realized in the online shopping system mainly on the World WideWeb. As another method of proving the shopping basket, there is a methodfor separately displaying an item catalog area and a shopping basketarea. Such a function is used in the shopping system provided by aCD-ROM.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] A main stage of the online shopping is an item catalog screen onwhich information on the items is provided. The consumer examines theitem on the screen and if he or she likes it, he or she takes it intothe shopping basket. During the shopping, he or she examines the contentof the shopping basket as required to check the item scheduled topurchase and the pay amount of the items. Accordingly, it is notnecessary to always display the purchase list on the screen, but thefunctions to access to the shopping basket for taking in the items andto display the contents should be available to the consumer any timeduring the shopping.

[0006] As described above, when the button for the shopping basket is onthe same page as the item catalog, the entire length of the page changesdepending on the amount of item data described on the catalog, the pagemay not be accommodated on the display screen. In such a case, it isnecessary for the consumer to scroll the page to press the button todisplay the button for the shopping basket in order to display thebutton. The same is true when the button is located at the top end ofthe page, and when the item of interest is at a lower portion of thepage, the screen must be scrolled upward in order to take the item intothe shopping basket after the confirmation. The state in which thenecessary function is not displayed without scrolling not only imposes aburden to the operation of scroll, and when the consumer first uses thesystem, the operation to be conducted next is hard to understand andcause anxiety to the user. On the other hand, in the method of alwaysdisplaying the button in a specified area by dividing the screen, theabove problem is solved. However, the specified area on the display isoccupied for the display of the button. Thus, there is a disadvantagethat the area on the display available for the display of the itemcatalog is narrowed.

[0007] Further, as a feature of an application on the Internet such asthe World Wide Web, high freedom of both information provider and useris pointed out. For example, the user cannot previously limit the lengthof one page of the contents prepared by the information provider. Theenvironment of the user such as a resolution of the display, a type ofbrowser software used and the setting of font varies from user to userand the information provider cannot know it. As a result, however theinformation provider devises the amount of information and the layoutdescribed on the page to accommodate it in the screen, the intendedeffect is not always achieved depending on the environment of the user.In the method of placing the button for the shopping basket on the samepage as the catalog, some degree of scrolling is unavoidable. On theother hand, the method of dividing the screen and sharing the roles bythe respective sub-areas restricts the method for preparing thecontents. It may be good that the user interface is uniform in oneonline shop but when it is applied across a plurality of online shops ofvarious items and scales, free design cannot be conducted. This forcesto the user a specific environment such as to watch the window of thebrowser at a specified size and hence it does not conform to theInternet.

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoppingbasket presentation method capable of simply utilizing a shopping basketwhile a consumer browses an item catalog.

[0009] It is another object of the present invention to provide ashopping basket presentation method capable of effectively utilizing anonline shop screen as an item catalog.

[0010] In accordance with the present invention, an interface forproviding the shopping basket function is provided as a separateshopping basket window from a catalog window on which online shop itemdata is displayed. The shopping basket window is displayed on thecatalog window and a display position is moved in linkage with themovement of a mouse pointer. The shopping basket includes a list ofitems to be purchased which is a main body of the shopping basket, afunction to add the item data to the list, and a function to change theitem data registered in the list. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the shopping basket main body is not always displayed.Instead, an interface function to display the shopping basket contentson the screen is provided on the shopping basket window.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a system configuration in oneembodiment of a online shopping system in accordance with the presentinvention,

[0012]FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a functional configuration of aclient shopping program of a consumer,

[0013]FIG. 3 shows a screen configuration of one example of a screendisplayed on a client display of the consumer during the shopping,

[0014]FIG. 4 shows a screen configuration of an example of a screendisplaying the content of the shopping basket,

[0015]FIG. 5 shows a data structure of an example of an item databasestructure,

[0016]FIG. 6 shows a data structure of an example of shopping basketdata stored in a shopping server,

[0017]FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a procedure of a process conductedwhen displaying the item catalog, and

[0018]FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of an example of a procedure of aprocess when a mouse operation is conducted for the shopping window.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an example of a systemconfiguration of the online shopping system in accordance with thepresent invention. In FIG. 1, numeral 100 denotes a shopping clientwhich a consumer uses for online shopping. Numeral 102 denotes a displaydevice used to display catalog data of the items. Numeral 104 denotes akeyboard and a numeral 106 denotes a mouse. They are used by theconsumer for the operation of the catalog and the shopping basket.Numeral 108 denotes a speaker which outputs audio information wheninformation by audio is included in the catalog. Numeral 110 denotes acontrol unit which realizes various functions of the shopping client 100in accordance with a program stored in a main memory 112. The shoppingclient 100 exchanges data with a shopping server to be described laterthorough a network 120 such as PSTN (public switched telephone network)or Internet via the communication unit 114 to realize the shoppingprocess. As the shopping client 100, a dedicated terminal device as wellas a general purpose information terminal device such as a so-calledpersonal computer (PC) may be used.

[0020] Numeral 130 denotes a shopping server of the online shopping. Theshopping server 130 comprises a display device 132, a keyboard 134, amain memory 136, a communication unit 138 and a control unit 140. Thecontrol unit 140 transmits catalog data 142 in response to a requestfrom the shopping client 100. When the shopping basket function isrequired by the shopping client, it changes the content of the shoppingbasket data by using the information stored in the item database 144.The catalog data 142, the item database 144 and the shopping basket data145 are stored in a memory unit such as a disk device which is accessedby the control unit 140. The display device 132 and the keyboard 134 areused for the maintenance of the program and the data in the shoppingserver 130. The shopping client 100 is connected to the network 120through the communication unit 138.

[0021] In the present embodiment, there are a plurality of shoppingservers 130 and the shopping clients 100, respectively connected to thenetwork 120 Each shopping client 100 may access to any shopping server130. The shopping basket data is maintained for each shopping server 130and the shopping is completed in each shopping server 130.

[0022]FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of a shopping programprovided in the shopping client 100 (consumer client) in the onlineshopping system in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 2,numeral 200 denotes a shopping basket window program for providing theshopping basket function and comprises a display control unit 202, acommunication management unit 204 and an event management unit 206. Theevent management unit 206 receives and interprets the information on theevent sent from the operating system 212 generated by the mouse 106 andthe keyboard 104 and delivers the messages related to the display changeand the communication control to the display control unit 202 and thecommunication management unit 204. The display control unit 202 receivesthe message on the change of display from the event management unit 206to control the display position of the shopping basket window which isan interface to provide the shopping basket function. The communicationmanagement unit 204 conducts the communication with the shopping server130 in response to the message on the communication control from theevent management unit 206. Numeral 208 denotes an item data managementprogram which sends to the shopping basket window program 200 theinformation on the selected items on the item catalog displayed on thedisplay device 102 by the catalog browser 210, that is, the informationon the items to be added to the shopping basket.

[0023] The catalog browser 210, the item data management program 208 andthe shopping basket window program 200 may be distributed in a formstored in a carrigeable storage medium such as a compact disk or afloppy disk. They may be distributed from the shopping server 130 orother computer through the network 120 to the shopping client 100.

[0024] The configurations shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are mere examples toimplement the present invention and other configurations may be adopted.For example, in the present embodiment, the shopping basket main body,that is, the list of the purchase items selected by the consumer fromthe item catalog is stored on the shopping server 130 as the shoppingbasket data 146 but it may be held in the shopping client 100 andtransferred to the server 130 when the order process is designated. Thecatalog browser 210 is not necessarily the application program dedicatedto the online shopping but the item catalog may be browsed in the, samemanner as that to browse the page of other World Wide Web in the windowshopping by using the World Wide Web browser and if an item to bepurchased is found, the operation to the shopping basket may beconducted by using the item management program and the shopping basketwindow program.

[0025]FIG. 3 shows an example of a consumer screen displayed on thedisplay device 102 during the shopping in the online shopping system inaccordance with the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, numeral 300 denotes acatalog browser window (hereinafter referred to as a catalog window) thedisplay of which is controlled by the catalog browser 210, and the itemdata (item catalog) expressed by character or image is displayedthereby. Numeral 310 denotes an area displayed by the item datamanagement program 208 and it is displayed inline in the catalog window300. In the present embodiment, when the consumer inputs the number ofitems to be purchased, the item data management program 208 informs theitem data of the item corresponding to the area and the input number ofitem to the shopping basket window 200. Numeral 330 denotes a shoppingbasket window which is always displayed in front of the catalog window300 and is moved on the screen to follow the mouse pointer 320. Theinformation on the items to be purchased and the button to operate theshopping basket are displayed on the shopping basket window 330. In thepresent embodiment, a total payment amount 332 in the information on theitems to be purchased, a button 334 for calling the display of thecontents of the shopping basket, a button 336 for taking the item intothe shopping basket, and a button 338 for ordering the items of theshopping basket are displayed.

[0026]FIG. 4. shows an example of a screen displaying the content of theshopping basket in the online shopping system in accordance with thepresent embodiment. The display screen is displayed when the button 334of the shopping basket window is depressed. In FIG. 4, numeral 400denotes a shopping basket content display screen, numeral 401 denotesinformation on the item scheduled to purchase, numeral 402 denotes anitem code of an item to be purchased, numeral 404 denotes an item name,numeral 406 denotes a unit price, numeral 408 denotes the number ofitems to be purchased, numeral 410 denotes a sub-total of a purchaseamount for each item and numeral 412 denote a total pay amount for allitems. The number of items to be purchased 408 may be changed by theconsumer on the screen. In this case, when a recalculation button 420 isdepressed by the consumer, the information on the changed number ofitems to be purchased is sent to the shopping server 130 and the changeof the content of the shopping basket and the recalculation of thepurchase amounts 410 and 412 are conducted. The consumer may depress abutton 422 for empty the shopping basket to clear all items in theshopping basket. Numeral 424 denotes a button for conducting an orderprocess of the items in the shopping basket and numeral 426 denotes abutton for erasing the display of the content of the shopping basket andreturning to the catalog to continue the shopping.

[0027]FIG. 5 shows an example of information on the items stored in theitem database 144 and FIG. 6 shows an example of the contents of theshopping basket of each consumer stored in the shopping basket data 146.In FIG. 5, numeral 500 denotes a shop code for identifying a shop whichhandles the items, numeral 502 denotes an item code applied to identifyindividual item, numeral 504 denotes an item name of individual item andnumeral 506 denotes an area for storing a unit price of the item. InFIG. 6, numeral 600 denotes a shopping basket table which storesinformation on one shopping basket, numeral 602 denotes a shoppingbasket ID for identifying each of the consumers, numeral 604 denotes ashop code, numeral 606 denotes an item code and numeral 608 denotes anarea which stores the number of items to be purchased. In the presentembodiment, a shopping basket ID is assigned for each shopping client100. The shopping basket table 600 is prepared and managed for eachshopping basket ID. When data is exchanged between the shopping client100 and the shopping server 130, the shopping basket ID is sent togetherwith the data so that the shopping basket data corresponding to theshopping basket ID is managed. In the present embodiment, in thismanner, each consumer may utilize the dedicated shopping basket. In thepresent embodiment, the shopping basket data 146 holds the informationon the item names placed in the shopping basket and the number of itemsthereof. The information necessary to display the content of theshopping basket and to order the items is generated by using theshopping basket data 146 as well as the information held in the itemdatabase 144.

[0028]FIG. 7 shows a flow chart of a process conducted when the itemcatalog is displayed in the shopping client in the online shoppingsystem in accordance with the present embodiment. In conducting theshopping, the consumer starts the catalog browser 210 of the shoppingclient 100 to connect with a desired shopping server 130. When theconnection to the shopping server 130 is made, the catalog browser 210requests the item catalog data to the shopping server 130 (step 700).

[0029] When the item catalog data is requested from the catalog browser210 of the shopping client 100, the shopping server 130 checks thepresence or absence of the shopping basket ID assigned to shoppingclient 100 prior to the sending of the item catalog data to the shoppingclient 100 (step 702). If the shopping basket ID is absent, a shoppingbasket ID is newly generated (step 704). Then, whether the shoppingbasket table 600 corresponding to the shopping basket ID is present inthe shopping basket data 146 on the shopping server 130 or not isdetermined (step 706). If the corresponding shopping basket table 600 isabsent, a new shopping basket table for the shopping basket ID isprepared (step 708). After the above process, the shopping server 130extracts the item catalog information to be transferred to the shoppingclient from the item catalog data 142 and transfers the item catalogdata to the shopping client 100. At this time, the step 704 has beenconducted and if a new shopping basket ID has been generated, theshopping basket ID is sent to the shopping client 100 together with theitem catalog information (step 710). The shopping basket ID transferredto the shopping client 100 is held in the catalog browser 210 and theshopping basket window program 200, and subsequently it is used when thedata is transferred from the shopping client 100 to the shopping server130.

[0030] When the shopping client 100 receives the item catalog data fromthe shopping server 130, it determines whether the shopping basketwindow program 200 has been started or not (step 712). If the shoppingbasket window program 200 has not been started, it starts the shoppingbasket window program 200 to display the shopping basket window 330 onthe display device 102 (step 714). In the present embodiment, it isassumed that only one shopping basket window 330 is present at one timeand the shopping basket window program 200 is terminated when thecatalog browser 210 is terminated.

[0031] The item catalog data sent from the shopping server 130 includesinformation for explaining the items using characters and images as wellas the item data used for the order such as the shop codes and the itemcodes. The catalog browser 210 displays the item explanation informationincluded in the sent item catalog data and displays the screencorresponding to the item explanation information in the catalog windowof the display device 102 (step 716). Further, the catalog browser 210starts the item data management program 208 to deliver the item data inthe item catalog data. The item data management program 208 displays theitem data on the display device 102 in accordance with the received itemdata (step 718).

[0032]FIG. 8 shows a flow chart of a process flow when the mouseoperation is conducted by the consumer. It is desirable that a method ofoperation conducted by the consumer on the catalog browser window 330 inthe shopping is uniform whether or not the shopping basket window 330 isdisplayed. In the present embodiment, when the mouse 106 is moved in anormal state, the mouse pointer on the screen is moved and the shoppingbasket window 330 also follows the mouse pointer 320. However, in theoperation to the shopping basket such as taking the item into theshopping basket, it is necessary to bring the mouse pointer 320 on theshopping basket window 330. In the present invention, a specific inputmethod, for example, the operation to move and click the mouse 106 whiledepressing a shift key of the keyboard is handled as the operation tothe shopping basket window 330. This operation method to the shoppingbasket window 330 may be other method so long as it does not conflict tothe normal window operation and the operation to the catalog browserwindow 300 and a method convenient to use for the user may be set.

[0033] When a mouse event occurs by the operation of the mouse 106 bythe consumer (step 800), whether the mouse event has been defined as anoperation of the shopping basket window 300 or not is determined (step802). If it is not the operation to the shopping basket, such a mouseevent is handled as an ordinary mouse event. If it is determined as theordinary mouse event in the step 802, whether the generated mouse eventis the movement of the mouse 106 or not is determined (step 804). If themouse event is the movement of the mouse 106, the control unit 110 movesthe display position of the mouse pointer 320 on the screen inaccordance with the movement of the mouse 106 (step 806). It also movesthe display position of the shopping basket window 330 by the sameamount as the amount of movement of the mouse pointer 320 (step 808). Inthe step 804, if it is determined that the generated mouse event isother than the movement of the mouse 106, the corresponding eventprocess is conducted (step 810).

[0034] In the step 802, if it is determined that the mouse event is theinput to the shopping basket window 330, whether the generated mouseevent is the selection of the button 336 to take the item into theshopping basket or not is determined (step 812). If it is the selectionof the button 336 to take the item into the shopping basket, the catalogbrowser 210 sends the item data of the items the number of which areinput in a field 310 to the shopping server 130 together with the heldshopping basket ID (step 814). When the shopping server 130 receives theinformation sent from the shopping client 100, it selects thecorresponding shopping basket table 600 based on the shopping basket IDincluded in the information and adds the sent item data (step 816). Whenthe item data is added to the shopping basket, the current total payamount is calculated on the shopping server 130 based on the updatedshopping basket table 600 and the item database 144 and the informationthereof is sent to the shopping client 100. In the shopping client 100,the shopping basket window program 200 updates the display 332 of theshopping basket window 330 based on this information and clears the itemnumber field 310 through the item data management program 208 (step818).

[0035] In the step 812, if it is determined that the generated mouseevent is not the selection of the button 336 to take the item into theshopping basket, whether the button 334 to check the contents of theshopping basket has been selected or not is determined (step 820). Ifthe button 334 to check the contents of the shopping basket has beenselected, the transfer of the information on the items taken into theshopping basket is requested to the shopping server 130. In response tothe request, the shopping server 130 generates the information necessaryto display the contents of the shopping basket from the item dataregistered in the corresponding shopping basket table 600 and theinformation in the item database 144 corresponding to the items andsends it to the shopping client. The client 100 conducts a displayprocess of the screen 400 on which the content of the shopping basket isdisplayed based on the information sent from the shopping basket windowprogram 200 (step 822). On the other hand, if it is not the selection ofthe button 334 to check the contents of the shopping basket, whether theorder button 338 has been selected or not is determined (step 824). Ifthe mouse event is the selection of the order button 338, a process toorder the item in the shopping basket is conducted (step 826). If thedecision is negative in the step 824, the mere movement process of themouse pointer 320 is conducted. At this time, the movement of thedisplay position of the shopping basket window is not conducted. Such amouse event occurs, for example, when the consumer attempts to move themouse pointer into the shopping basket window 330 in order to utilizethe shopping basket function (step 828).

[0036] In accordance with the present invention, since the shoppingbasket window is displayed to follow the mouse button, the shoppingbasket function is always displayed immediately close to the mousepointer. Accordingly, the consumer simply may utilize the shoppingbasket function while watching the items on the online shopping. Forexample, when the consumer looks at the item and wants to purchase it,he or she may immediately take it into the shopping basket on site andconfirm the contents of the shopping basket so that the operation andthe time to use the shopping basket function is reduced. In this manner,the consumer may conduct the shopping on the online shopping with asense close to that of the real shopping and may concentrate to theshopping without being puzzled since the necessary function is alwaysvisible. Further, since the shopping basket window is displayed on theseparate window from that of the online shopping main body and it may bemoved to a non-disturbing location by moving the mouse when the itemsare to be checked, the area on the screen available to display the itemdata as the catalog may be widened. Further, since only the informationon the items may be described as the catalog contents and the shoppingbasket function may be separated, the preparation of the item catalog iseasy and the speedy update may be attained.

[0037] In the embodiment described above, only the total price isdisplayed on the shopping basket window as the information on the itemsin the shopping basket, other information, for example, the number ofitems in the shopping basket may be displayed. Such information is aidfor the consumer to grasp the amount of shopping but it need not bealways displayed. As another method to make the consumer recognize thecontents of the shopping basket and prevent the taking of items into theshopping basket in failure and finally overpurchase, there is a methodfor displaying the content of the shopping basket on the screen 400 eachtime the item is taken into the shopping basket. Further, in addition tothe buttons for taking the item into the shopping basket, displaying thecontent, and sending order, other function, such as a button to emptythe content of the shopping basket, which functions to change thecontent of the shopping basket may be provided. However, in order toutilize the advantage that the consumer may operate the shopping basketwhile browsing the item catalog, at least the button to take the iteminto the shopping basket is to be provided.

[0038] In the above embodiment, the shopping basket window is always inthe visible state, but the user who has no intention to immediatelypurchase but merely watching the items may feel it hinder. Ascountermeasure for such a case, the display of the shopping basketwindow may be erased in response to the indication by the consumer or itmay be brought to the back of the browser and displayed on the frontwhen called to move it together with the mouse.

What is claimed is:
 1. A shopping basket presentation method in anonline shopping system provided with a server having item data includinginformation on items presented to a consumer and shopping basket dataincluding information on items specified by the consumer, a clientoperated by the consumer and including a display device and an inputdevice, and a network for connecting said server and said client,comprising the steps of: transferring the item data from said server tosaid client; displaying the item data in a catalog window on a screen ofsaid display device in said client; displaying a shopping basket windowwhich is different from said catalog window as an interface forconducting an operation of the shopping basket data; and moving apointer displayed on said display device in accordance with theoperation of said input device by the consumer and moving a displayposition of the shopping basket window in linkage with the movement ofthe pointer.
 2. A shopping basket presentation method according to claim1 wherein a first button to display the information on the itemsregistered in the shopping basket data and a second button to registerthe item in the shopping basket data are displayed in the shoppingbasket window for the user's selection.
 3. A shopping basketpresentation method according to claim 2 further comprising the stepsof: acquiring information on the item registered in the shopping basketdata in response to the selection of said first button; and displayingthe acquired information on the items in the shopping basket window. 4.A shopping basket presentation method according to claim 3 furthercomprising the steps of: receiving a change command for the informationon the items displayed in the shopping basket window; transferring achange request for the shopping basket data in accordance with thereceived change command from said client to said server; and changingthe information registered in the shopping basket data in accordancewith the change request.
 5. A shopping basket presentation methodaccording to claim 2 further comprising the steps of: transferring theinformation on the items specified by the consumer from said client tosaid server in response to the selection of said second button; andadditionally registering the information on the items to the shoppingbasket data in said server.
 6. A shopping basket presentation methodaccording to claim 1 wherein the information on the items registered inthe shopping basket data is displayed in said shopping basket window. 7.A shopping basket presentation method according to claim 1 furthercomprising the step of: detecting a predetermined operation conducted tosaid input device; and moving the pointer independently from theshopping basket window in response to the predetermined operation.
 8. Anonline shopping system comprising: a network; a shopping serverconnected to said network and having an item data file for storing itemdata on sale items and a shopping basket data file for holdinginformation on selected items designated by a consumer as shoppingbasket data; and a shopping client connected to said network and havinga display device, an input device, catalog display means for displayingan item catalog on said display device based on item catalog data sentfrom said shopping server and shopping basket window control means forcontrolling the display of a shopping basket window which is a differentwindow from that for displaying the item catalog and functions as aninterface for an operation of the shopping basket data, wherein saidshopping basket window control means moves a display position of theshopping basket window in linkage with a pointer moved and displayed onsaid display device in accordance with the operation of said inputdevice.
 9. An online shopping system according to claim 8 wherein saidshopping basket window control means displays in said shopping basketwindow a first button for displaying the information on the selecteditems registered in said shopping basket data file and a second buttonfor registering the selected items in said shopping basket data file.10. An online shopping system according to claim 9 wherein said shoppingbasket window control means acquires the information on the selecteditem registered in said shopping basket data file in response to theselection of said first button by said input device and displaysacquired information on the selected items in said shopping basketwindow.
 11. An online shopping system according to claim 10 wherein saidshopping basket window control means receives a change command for theinformation on the selected items displayed in said shopping basketwindow and sends a change request for said shopping basket data file tosaid server in accordance with the received change command.
 12. Anonline shopping system according to claim 9 wherein said shopping basketwindow control means transfers the item data on the selected itemsdesignated by the consumer in response to the selection of said secondbutton.
 13. An online shopping system according to claim 8 wherein saidshopping basket window control means displays the information on theselected items registered in said shopping basket data file.
 14. Anonline shopping system according to claim 8 wherein said shopping basketwindow control means displays said shopping basket window independentlyfrom the movement of said pointer in response to the predefinedoperation of said input device.
 15. A terminal device connected to ashopping server through a network used by a consumer for onlineshopping, comprising: a display device; an input device; catalog displaymeans for displaying an item catalog on said display device inaccordance with item catalog data sent from said shopping server; andshopping basket window control means for controlling the display of ashopping basket window which is a different window from that fordisplaying said item catalog and functions as an interface for theoperation of shopping basket data including information on itemsselected by the consumer, the shopping basket data being held in saidshopping server; wherein said shopping basket window control means movesa display position of the shopping basket window in linkage with apointer moved and displayed on said display device in accordance withthe operation of said input device.
 16. A terminal device according toclaim 15 wherein said shopping basket window control means displays insaid shopping basket window a first button for displaying theinformation on the selected items and a second button for registeringthe selected items in said shopping basket data.
 17. A terminal deviceaccording to claim 16 wherein said shopping basket window control meansacquires the information on the selected items registered in saidshopping basket data in response to the selection of said first buttonusing said input device and displays acquired information on theselected items in said shopping basket window.
 18. A terminal deviceaccording to claim 17 wherein said shopping basket window control meansreceives a change command for the information on the selected itemsdisplayed in said shopping basket window from said input device andsends a change request of said shopping basket data to said server inaccordance with the received change command.
 19. A terminal deviceaccording to claim 16 wherein said shopping basket window control meanstransfers the item data on the selected items designated by the consumerin response to the selection of said second button.
 20. A terminaldevice according to claim 15 wherein said shopping basket window controlmeans displays the information on the selected items registered in saidshopping basket data.
 21. A terminal device according to claim 15wherein said shopping basket window control means displays said shoppingbasket window independently from the movement of said pointer inresponse to the predefined operation of said input device.